and i've been labeled a troll for saying it, especially by the brewer.

Click to expand...

You're not the only one who's been saying that. The '10 EW bottle I rated was good but I had a few sub-par bottles of it afterward as well. FR, RR, and CB also showed quality issues that year with the Christian Brothers varying from bad to really bad. The variation was supposedly fixed in '11 but the four variants I tried at a tasting were laughably sub-par to virtually every other stout in the room. If there are better bottles than the ones I tried I wouldn't know since I'm not dumping that much money on the chance of getting a good bottle. Thin, translucent, charred bombers of stout for $25? I don't get the fascination. Several better barrel aged stouts are out there for less money.

I just had the 2010 ( I think, it was last years release not this years) Brandy on my birthday and I really enjoyed it. I had the 2010 (same note) BT and it was a hot boozy mess. But I gotta say, no. Not worth the price.

Beer Trader

Very, very few beers $20+ are worth buying more than one or two. There are too many cheaper options.

Click to expand...

Itotally agree with one exception, I bought 2 bottles of Fruet at 30 a piece, one to drink and one to age. After drinking the first one I couldn't help but open the second. Bought another to age, drank that one too. I swear I'm going to age this fourth bottle but I'm a weak, weak man

Itotally agree with one exception, I bought 2 bottles of Fruet at 30 a piece, one to drink and one to age. After drinking the first one I couldn't help but open the second. Bought another to age, drank that one too. I swear I'm going to age this fourth bottle but I'm a weak, weak man

Click to expand...

nah beer is meant to be drank not looked at in the cellar, take a picture and remember it later.

My local store has a few Eclipse varieties (Brandy, Grand Cru, Four Roses, Rittenhouse Rye) but they're charging about $35/bottle! I've never had this before but figure it might be worth picking up just as trade bait since it seems so many people are looking for this. I just can't get past that price...is that insane or is this beer really that good/rare???

Beer Trader

no bomber or RIS at less than 10% adv is worth more than 15 tops. IMHO. I do not care how long its aged and I don't care what its aged in. If the base beer is not great the age don't help.

Click to expand...

So you base the 'worth' on ABV? What? That makes less than zero sense.

I know scores on BA mean about as much as "Don't buy anything in 22 oz. bottles under 10% ABV over $15" but the scores on the Eclipse variants are wildly at odds with most of the posters here.

But bash away! The lower the trade value, the more I can greedily drink, this is one of my favorite BA series. And I can tell you that the Chicago shelves would be bare of Eclipse if I were in the vicinity!

My local store has a few Eclipse varieties (Brandy, Grand Cru, Four Roses, Rittenhouse Rye) but they're charging about $35/bottle! I've never had this before but figure it might be worth picking up just as trade bait since it seems so many people are looking for this. I just can't get past that price...is that insane or is this beer really that good/rare???

Click to expand...

Of course we're all free to do as we please.

No way I would pay that much for a bottle of beer, my experience has trended toward an inverse relationship between price and enjoyment. I've been drinking craft beer for 30 years and can honestly state few of the high-priced beers (if any) match up against a $2.19 half-liter of Zywiec Porter (after sitting in my fridge for about 3 months).

There's the $3.99 half-liter of Weinstephaner Vitus.

There's Harviestoun Engineers Reserve at $5.99 for an 11.2 oz bottle, not many beers can stand up to it.

I bought about a case of Samuel Smith Stingo over the last 6 months, at $12.99 per pint. That's about my price limit. It's not that I'm cheap or don't have the money to buy expensive beers, I've just been disappointed too many times by them. I won't name specific disappointments because they're trendy beers, most of them are American.

Beer Trader

and i've been labeled a troll for saying it, especially by the brewer.

Click to expand...

I know you have. And I've been right there with you. Its just hard to speak over the majority. If they only produced the EC version I'd probably have no problems with Eclipse other than the ridiculous price.

So you base the 'worth' on ABV? What? That makes less than zero sense.

I know scores on BA mean about as much as "Don't buy anything in 22 oz. bottles under 10% ABV over $15" but the scores on the Eclipse variants are wildly at odds with most of the posters here.

But bash away! The lower the trade value, the more I can greedily drink, this is one of my favorite BA series. And I can tell you that the Chicago shelves would be bare of Eclipse if I were in the vicinity!

Click to expand...

hehe its just price based really. i just don't think any bomber is worth more than 15, I could give them so lee way at over 15% though, lol. Mainly I just think all this beer is OVER priced.

I used to buy Cantillon, until it got so expensive and its one the BEST Beers in the WORLD period. I used to buy Westy mail order for 6 then 7 then 8 a pop nows its 25 or more I stopped buying it.

The answers are all over the place as far as which varieties are good and which are not, which are worth it and which are not. I've never had any of them, but based on the reactions and answers, I would pass. No beer is worth that much if opinions of it are so varied.

Beer Trader

The scores don't take into account cost, so no, they're not at odds with the opinions here. The question isn't whether the Eclipses are good, it's whether they're worth $35 a pop.

Click to expand...

...but if you read the whole thread, there are plenty of people who dislike the beers independent of price. "Thin", "mess", "sub-par", "joke", "weak", you could start a dictionary of how to express disdain for the series.

And I'm glad to see you're avatar crying after my lowly Twins laid a busting on them last night.

can anyone who is praising the beer confirm that bottle variation has been fixed?

my complaint with eclipse was that the bottles i had were crappy; however, in seeing that reviews are all over the place, i gave 50/50 the benefit of the doubt and chalked it up to bottle variation. i was later heartened to see a few other posters say this.

but the brewer, todd ashman, jumped down my throat when i mentioned bottle variation. and i'm curious to see if he quietly fixed it (without admitting it, natch) or if he's just plowing ahead with "fuck you levitation" as his battle cry.

i mean i'm sure they'll get a pass on year-over-year qc problems unlike some other breweries... but let's put that aside and answer the fundamental question: fixed or not? (and please refrain from using the word "troll")

Beer Trader

EC18 was indeed fantastic but I don't think it's worth more than the futures price which was around $22 I believe. I thought 4 Roses was awful...it had no barrel flavor and only tasted like a stout with honey in it. The 2011 Rye was the same way. I've heard the Eclipse bottles have a lot of bottle variation though.

Edit: I had the 2009 Rye and thought it was amazing so something was definitely not right.

Beer Trader

I haven't personally encountered any that was noticeable, although I also haven't had more than a handful of any given variety.

Click to expand...

Ditto, never noticed any when the beers were fresh. But given the relatively short life of it being excellent vs. other bigger stouts, it's hard to tell if something is bottle variation vs. losing a step due to aging. But I've had the Rye several times since it's release, from fresh to 18 months +, & it's been a pretty steady decline.

Beer Trader

Ditto, never noticed any when the beers were fresh. But given the relatively short life of it being excellent vs. other bigger stouts, it's hard to tell if something is bottle variation vs. losing a step due to aging. But I've had the Rye several times since it's release, from fresh to 18 months +, & it's been a pretty steady decline.

Click to expand...

I honestly don't think these decline as much as people say. I had an 18 a few weeks ago and it was still great. A few months ago I had the PVW and it was among the best BA stouts I've ever had. I've heard nothing but that it's on a steep decline, so either people are wrong or that beer was a goddamn elixir of the gods fresh. (And all of the various vintages I've had have been consistently good.)

This is all even weirder because I am about as bearish on aging as anyone on this site. I just posted in a thread saying not to age CBS because it crashed harder than a freight train into a brick wall. But the consensus that Eclipse drops fast and hard is just not consistent with my experience.

I honestly don't think these decline as much as people say. I had an 18 a few weeks ago and it was still great. A few months ago I had the PVW and it was among the best BA stouts I've ever had. I've heard nothing but that it's on a steep decline, so either people are wrong or that beer was a goddamn elixir of the gods fresh.

Click to expand...

you're also pretty new to beer, aren't you? "among the best i've had" may not be a lot.

This is all even weirder because I am about as bearish on aging as anyone on this site. I just posted in a thread saying not to age CBS because it crashed harder than a freight train into a brick wall.

Click to expand...

telling people not to age a coffee beer doesn't make you bearish on aging. and fyi, cbs has a lot of bottle variation too... so that may be overshadowing any 'aging' effects.

Beer Trader

you're also pretty new to beer, aren't you? "among the best i've had" may not be a lot.

Click to expand...

Well over a year in, over 1300 beers tried. I think the only well regarded BA stouts I haven't had are Kaggen and BA DL. (Also, you seem to post this in response to something I've said every few months. How long does someone need to be at it to be qualified to give an opinion?)

telling people not to age a coffee beer doesn't make you bearish on aging. and fyi, cbs has a lot of bottle variation too... so that may be overshadowing any 'aging' effects.

Click to expand...

On here it does. (Also that wasn't necessarily used an indication of bearishness, I just thought it was funny timing-wise.) I hadn't heard anything about bottle variation before, and the bottles I had were stretched out over a long-ish period of time so I wouldn't have noticed anyway.

Well over a year in, over 1300 beers tried. I think the only well regarded BA stouts I haven't had are Kaggen and BA DL. (Also, you seem to post this in response to something I've said every few months. How long does someone need to be at it to be qualified to give an opinion?)

Click to expand...

i just don't take most sweeping / absolute statements very seriously, so it's not personal.

my impression is that you post a lot but don't have a lot of experience with beer (kind of like adamjackson), but numbers-wise i seem to be wrong on that. then again, i think most beer learning comes from experience over time and not just getting in a huge number of ticks quickly... but i'm in the minority on that.

On here it does.

Click to expand...

really? i thought the two things most ba's agree on are: don't age ipas (well, except ephraim in a growler) and don't age coffee beers (unless they're rare and will make good trade bait).

Beer Trader

my impression is that you post a lot but don't have a lot of experience with beer (kind of like adamjackson), but numbers-wise i seem to be wrong on that. then again, i think most beer learning comes from experience over time and not just getting in a huge number of ticks quickly... but i'm in the minority on that.

Click to expand...

That's fair, but how much time? I'm honestly curious about that. (Also, I've been around way longer than Adam Jackson.)

really? i thought the two things most ba's agree on are: don't age ipas (well, except ephraim in a growler) and don't age coffee beers (unless they're rare and will make good trade bait).

Click to expand...

I think the average BA believes that all beers age well, or at least "turn into" other beers.

Beer Trader

I honestly don't think these decline as much as people say. I had an 18 a few weeks ago and it was still great. A few months ago I had the PVW and it was among the best BA stouts I've ever had. I've heard nothing but that it's on a steep decline, so either people are wrong or that beer was a goddamn elixir of the gods fresh. (And all of the various vintages I've had have been consistently good.)

This is all even weirder because I am about as bearish on aging as anyone on this site. I just posted in a thread saying not to age CBS because it crashed harder than a freight train into a brick wall. But the consensus that Eclipse drops fast and hard is just not consistent with my experience.

Click to expand...

Funny stuff. I'm on the opposite end, I love to age BA stouts, & these to me are one of the few that just don't hold up for me. On the other hand, I've never had the PVW, & the 18 is holding up really well. The drop is most noticeable in the Brandy, Four Roses, & Rye.

Beer Trader

I don't hear anyone talking about one's disposal income which I feel is a significant element here. $20-30 is not much money for some and quite a bit for others. That aside, IMO, most Eclipse variants are worth the original mark of $20-25 or so but not what some are trying to resell them for. Especially when you know 50/50 will burp another batch in a few months.

Beer Trader

Our tasting group did all of them about a month ago including the iced.

Making a super cru out of all of them was tasty, but other than that, the winners were EC 12/18, Cru, Iced in my opinion. Now when you take into account what people are trading Iced for, it becomes laughable.

As mentioned above, they certainly aren't terrible but its a tall order given the price tag.

A lot of folks at the aforementioned tasting seemed to favor the EC 12, EC 18 and Iced... someone can correct me if I'm wrong there. That was a few months ago. The EC 18 was my favorite of the lineup and one of the best beers I had that night. I'm not sure I would shell out $30+ for any of the other variants.